Saturday, July 9, 2011

07/09/2011
One wonders just what it is
that the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, along with senators
allied with Noynoy, wants to achieve by way of focusing on the vehicles,
said to be Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) granted to the bishops, if,
in the first place, these are used by them to help the poor and the
needy?

Is it the aim of Noynoy’s PCSO to cut off all these
“charitable” projects to the clergy that incidentally, have been in
practice for decades — and especially during Cory Aquino’s time when a
lot of government funds were invariably channeled to Caritas and other
religious projects?

If so, then the better way is for the Noynoy
administration to announce that henceforth, it is his policy that no one
— whether congressman, mayor, governor, local executive official or
bishop or priest or nun, or even the Pope — can expect to be granted
requests by the PCSO — whether in the form of money or vehicles or
hospitalization or medicines for the sick and the needy, since such
requests for charity work are deemed to be banned..... MORE

07/09/2011
For Noynoy and his Palace aides, a denial by any of them should be taken as gospel truth.
Thus,
when they say that Noynoy already sold his Porsche, but refuses to say
to whom he sold it to and when, as well as refusing to say who had sold
him his claimed second hand Porsche, those statements have to be taken
as gospel truth, because they said so.

In much the same way,
Malacañang yesterday stated that Noynoy does not have a top of the line,
bullet proof BMW SUV; that he had never been given this as a gift,
because Noynoy is not the type to accept gifts.

As deputy
spokesman Abigail Valte claimed: “That’s (having a BMW SUV) not true. He
was not gifted with one, not has the president bought one. So let’s
nip that in the bud. There is no truth to these rumors that are making
the rounds.”.... MORE

07/09/2011
BALA POOLS — It’s home to the
world’s second largest migration of animals, an epic movement of
antelope through some of Africa’s most pristine wildernesses.

But
there is not a single tourist in the vast expanse and stunning scenery
of Badingilo National Park to see it — not yet, anyway.

South
Sudan, which will become the world’s newest nation on Saturday, is
opening up after decades of brutal war, which killed some two million
people and left its infrastructure in ruins.

Wildlife also
suffered but many populations did survive, and now the fledgling
government is working to conserve and develop what remains.

“People were amazed when it was found after the peace signed in 2005,
that the wonderful wildlife that had survived was so great,” said Gen.
Alfred Akwoch, adviser to the south’s wildlife, conservation and tourism
ministry..... MORE

“Legal protest movements are rising on a global scale in an
unprecedented way. They are fueled by pro-imperialist and reactionary
policies and such concrete conditions generated by these as rising mass
unemployment, soaring prices of food, fuel and other basic commodities
and increasingly violent reaction of states to unarmed protests.” –
Professor Jose Maria Sison

MANILA – More than 400 members of people’s organizations from at
least 40 countries gathered together to come up with common efforts in
building a brighter future.

The Fourth International Assembly of the International League of
Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS) formally opened today at the Ciudad Christia
Resort in San Mateo, Rizal. With delegates representing more than 300
grassroots organizations from all continents, the assembly is the
biggest since 2001. It will last until July 9.

The ILPS was founded in May 2001 at Zutphen, the Netherlands. With
the theme, “Build a Bright Future! Mobilize the People to Resist
Exploitation and Oppression Amidst the Protracted Global Depression,
State Terrorism and Wars of Aggression!” the Fourth International
Assembly coincides with the tenth year of the League.

Malcolmn Guy, secretary general of the International League Of Peoples’ Struggle, addresses the delegates.(Photo by Raymund B. Villanueva / bulatlat.com)

In his keynote address, Prof. Jose Maria Sison, chairman of the ILPS
International Coordinating Committee (ICC), said: “The League stands
today as the foremost global formation of mass organizations
comprehensively covering all major concerns and issues in the people’s
struggle for national and social liberation and promptly issuing
analyses, statements and calls to action for the benefit of the broad
masses of the people.”.... MORE

“Landlords, land grabbers, corrupt governments and
imperialism – we must all fight and defeat them. The landlords say they
will never give up their lands, but what is stronger than their greed is
the righteousness of our struggle for land and our humanity.”By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIOBulatlat.com
MANILA — Activist from India Malem Ninsthoujia is indignant. It is
the day after the Supreme Court issued its decision scrapping the Stock
Distribution Option (SDO) scheme in Hacienda Luisita and he echoes the
anger of farmers from Central Luzon and everywhere else in the country
in saying that the High Court’s verdict is deceptive.

“The farmworkers of Hacienda Luisita demand that they be given
control and ownership over the land so long denied them by a fake
agrarian reform program. The Philippines’ justice system leaves much to
be desired when it comes to upholding the rights of farmers,” he said.

Then he directly addressed the audience comprised of farmers, peasant leaders and agrarian rights advocates.
“Fellow farmers, comrades, always hold your head high! We are the
tillers of the earth, we are the ones who feed humanity. We must never
forget that in our work and in our struggle for genuine agrarian reform
all over the world there is dignity!”

Peasant leaders and agrarian reform advocates from India, Nepal, Sri
Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Argentina, Kenya, Cambodia,
Senegal, Cameroon, Burundi joined their Filipinos counterparts in the
first “International Speak Out Against Global Land grabbing” held in
Quezon City. In a lively protest and program in front of the Department
of Agrarian Reform (DAR) offices, the internationalists expressed
strong solidarity with Filipino farmers and the rest of the Filipino
people in pressing for immediate reforms.

In a lively protest and program in front of the Department of Agrarian
Reform (DAR) offices, the internationalists express strong solidarity
with Filipino farmers and the rest of the Filipino people in pressing
for immediate reforms (Photo by Ina Alleco R. Silverio / bulatlat.com)

Land is life, fight for land rights

The rally and Shout Out activity were also parts of two
international activities, the International Festival for Peoples’ Rights
and Struggles and the 4th Assembly of the International League of
Peoples’ Struggles.

Nepalese activist Balram Banskota of the Asian Peasant Coalition
(APC) said farmers in his own country have learned through the years to
be more aggressive in pressing for their democratic rights. He said that
the radical political upheavals in Nepal have served to strengthen the
farmers’ movement in the country.

“We work every day, we sleep without having eaten. As we suffer the
landlords remain lazy but rich because we pay them with our life’s
blood. The political upheavals in Nepal, however, have wrought changes:
we are now committed to the fight for genuine agrarian reform and it is
the landlords who now fear landlessness and poverty. In the ongoing
construction of our developing society, farmers are making sure that we
incorporate in the new constitution the life and death issues of lad
reform and food security. I am certain that this, too is in the agenda
of farmers in the Philippines as they demand their rights in the streets
and in the halls of parliament,” he said..... MORE

According to IBON data, TNCs account for 50 percent of all
oil, gas and coal extraction and refining. Only 10 TNCs account for
about 41 percent of world production of oil and gas, and TNCs control
80 percent of land worldwide which is cultivated for cash crops. Only
20 TNCs account for about 90 percent of the sales of hazardous
pesticides and other agricultural chemicals. by INA ALLECO R. SILVERIOBulatlat.com

As one of the activities of the International Festival for Peoples’
Rights and Struggles (IFPRS) which ran from July 5 to 6 in the
Philippines, environmental networks held a forum dubbed “the Current
Challenges of Climate Change” in Quezon City. Organizers said that they
wanted to raise awareness on the science and politics of climate change
as well as present critiques on the various responses to climate
change.

Guests from New Zealand, Cambodia, India, Bangladesh and Uzbekistan
shared how their respective countries deal with climate change and its
devastating effects.

Unquantifiable loss of culture, heritage

Dr. Timote Viaoeleti of Impact New Zealand shared that it was also
urgent to address the issue of climate change because of its impact on
the cultural life, heritage and history of peoples.

“This loss is not quantifiable, and what has been destroyed can
never be restored,”he said. He explained that the massive floods that
hit areas like Kirabati, Rarotonga, Somoa and Fiji destroyed more than
the terrain and the livelihood of residents, but also the burial grounds
and ancestral lands of the people. The other effects of climate change
such as coral bleaching, soil erosion, decreased water supply, storm
surges, ocean acidification also alter the face of New Zealand and with
it comes the destruction of cultural history and the people’s emotional
connection to the land.

Resource persons on the Forum on the Current Challenges of Climate
Change said that the issue of injustice is at the root of the climate
crisis. They said that for all their posturing, governments of
advanced capitalist countries and their corporations have not only
refused to fully honor their obligations to reduce emissions and support
climate actions in the more impoverished countries, they have also
exploited the climate crisis to enforce false solutions that create new
profit opportunities, expand their control over natural resources and
worsen global warming. (From left Vaioleti, Tek Vannara , Irina
Gilfanova)(Photo by Ina Alleco R. Silverio / bulatlat.com)

“It’s not usual that the social, spiritual and epistemological
issues are considered when discussing the effect of climate change; but
in the case for instance of New Zealand, these issues cannot be
neglected. Take the destruction of burial grounds or the flooding of
ancestral lands — the emotional relationship of people with the land is
all but erased, and memories are not enough to contain the grief over
what was lost. People are forced to move and leave behind all that they
have built and nurtured for centuries. There is a saying and a belief in
Samoa: If my village is good, then I am good. If there is something
wrong with my village, then there’s something wrong with me. The
connection between the environment and the self is very present; there
is the acknowledgment that environmental destruction destroys more than
forests, oceans or livelihood: it eradicates the self,” he said..... MORE

“We are alarmed that CMU, a center for education and
formation of values, by its actions, is promoting a teaching of values
that contradicts the intention of social justice. By denying the farmers
the land that is very much attached to their lives, the CMU has become a
despotic landlord rather than an educational institution.” – solidarity
missionBy JANESS ANN J. ELLAOBulatlat.com

MARAMAG, Bukidnon — For Winnie Loable, 36, their struggle for the
land they have been tilling is not just a matter of securing the future
of his family, it is also about honoring his father and seeking justice
for his death.
“Like us, they, too, were fighting for our right to till our land,”
Loable said, “Winning our agrarian dispute will not only assure my
children of a better future but it would also be my way of giving honor
to my father’s life and struggle.”

The BTL farmers wish they could win the agrarian dispute for their children’s future (Photo by Janess Ann J. Ellao / bulatlat.com)

Leonardo, Loable’s father, was among those who were hired by the
Central Mindanao University to till parts of the 3,084 hectares of land.
The agricultural workers made the idle lands productive by planting it
with rice. When the CMU went bankrupt, the farmers continued to
cultivate the land and paid a rental fee per square meter.

In 1986, peasants formed Buffalo (Bukidnon Free Farmers and
Agricultural Laborers Organization) and petitioned for the inclusion of
the 1,200 hectares of the 3,084 hectares of land they were tilling in
the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program of former President Cory
Aquino. Two more groups of farmers formed Tamaraw (Triad Agricultural
Manpower of Rural Active Workers) and Limus (Landless Tillers
Inhabitants of Musuan) respectively, and staked their claim on another
1,200 hectares of land. Hence, when these three groups of farmers banded
together, they called themselves BTL.

Despite
the scandal plaguing the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, past
and present, there will be no [privatizing the PCSO and the Phiippine
Amusement and Gaming Corp.(PagCor) for the simple reason that President
Aquino will be denied his huge unaudited pork barrel, the presidential
social fund (PSF). And there will be no investigation of the current
PCSO chief, Margarita Juico, on allegations of anomalies in the current
charity office, as well as allegations of her having obtained some P27
million when she was still a director in the same office, with
Malacanang saying that her denial of all these alleged anomalies is more
than sufficient proof for Aquino.

This was admitted by Aquino,
through his deputy spokesman, Abigail Valte, who said that while there
are calls for the abolition or the privatization of the PCSO which has
been described as a milking cow of any administration, Valte claimed
that such a move is unnecessary because this would compromise some of
the government’s charity projects..... MORE

There
is now a case of the missing P5 million, since former Philippine
Charity Sweepstakes Office chief Rosario Uriate claimed that she had
given a foreign affairs official P20 million in cash from its
intelligence fund for “blood money” payment, while the diplomat said
only less than P15 million was given by PCSO and not in cash, but in
manager’s checks.

A senior Foreign Affairs official yesterday
denied personally having received a P20-million donation from the PCSO
that was used as blood money payment to save three Filipinos from death
row in Saudi Arabia.

Foreign Undersecretary Esteban Conejos said
department records would show that only close to P15 million was given
by the PCSO and not P20 million as claimed by the former national
lottery agency’s general manager Rosario Uriarte..... MORE

The
militant Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) yesterday accused the
Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) and the Department of Agrarian
Reform (DAR) for appearing to be “in collusion” with President Aquino
in withholding its official stand on the agrarian dispute involving
Hacienda Luisita, a vast sugar estate owned by the President’s family.

This even as international support for the farmer-beneficiaries of the contested sugar estate continues to snowball

“Up
to now, Luisita farmers still have to hear a word from the OSG and the
DAR on what steps they are going to take. The DAR and the OSG appears in
collusion with the President in hiding the administration’s official
stand on the Hacienda Luisita issue,” said KMP secretary general Danilo
Ramos.

“We challenge the DAR to side with Hacienda Luisita
farmers who are determined to fight for their rights to the lands,” said
Ramos announcing that “a series of protest by Hacienda Luisita farmers
against the SC decision are now set.”.... MORE

07/09/2011
Senate President Pro Tempore
Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada yesterday urged the government to fight tooth
and nail to keep jobs in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as well as in other
destination countries available to Filipino workers.

At the same time he wanted to strengthen industries in the country to be able to boost and expand local employment.

“Our
government should exert all efforts to provide overseas jobs, as well
as local employment, to our countrymen,” said Estrada, concurrent
chairman of the Senate committee on labor, employment and human
resources development and the congressional oversight committee on labor
and employment (COCLE).

The senator aired the call, especially to
the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Department of Labor and
Employment (DoLE) amid the KSA government’s decision to strictly
implement “Saudization,” or policy on prioritizing employment for their
nationals over foreign workers in Saudi-owned firms, as well as its
“freeze hiring” on household service workers (HSWs) from the Philippines
and other countries..... MORE

The
Office of the Ombudsman has created a special panel which will
investigate allegations of misuse of the intelligence funds of the
Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) during the administration
of former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

In
an e-mailed statement, acting Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro said the
anti-graft office would start looking into the alleged misuse of
intelligence funds of PCSO during the time of President Aquino’s
predecessor and to find out who should be held criminally liable.

Casimiro
said the special panel he formed would focus mainly on the manner by
which PCSO funds were disbursed. He, however, declined to reveal the
identities of the its members.

The anti-graft office’s initiative
to conduct its own probe came following revelations made during the
Senate blue ribbon committee hearing on the disbursements of the
agency’s intelligence funds..... MORESource: The Daily Tribune

Retired
Army general Jovito Palparan has formally denied he ordered his men
to abduct Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño, two student activists who
disappeared five years ago.

Speaking to reporters before the
Department of Justice (DoJ) panel’s preliminary investigation hearing
yesterday, Palparan said: “I am strongly denying that. What will you
admit if there is nothing to admit?”
He added his critics only label him as a butcher to give him a bad reputation.

“Ang
alam ko diyan sa berdugo, hindi na mabubura yan sa isip nila. Ibebenta
nila yan sa media at sa publiko to put me down para maging credible ang
accusation nila sa akin. And that is also against the Armed Forces and
the government,” said Palparan who also served as party-list
representative from 2007 to 2010..... MORE